


Back in Business

by dontgoawaymad



Series: Casablanca Plaza [9]
Category: KISS (US Band), Mötley Crüe, Poison (US Band), Skid Row (US Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Daddy Issues, Letters, M/M, Moving Out, Shopping Malls, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26630638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontgoawaymad/pseuds/dontgoawaymad
Summary: after 3 months of lockdown, patterstown’s favorite shopping mall has reopened its doors!
Relationships: Tommy Lee/Nikki Sixx
Series: Casablanca Plaza [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1930267
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	Back in Business

**Author's Note:**

> also did i mention nikki teaches kindergarten in this au??

“GRAND REOPENING!!” was the banner that was hung underneath the mall’s razzmatazz neon sign. the mall silently reopened today, as everyone was eager to get to business as usual. despite being the only mall in patterstown, there were half the shoppers than normal. over the past three months, there have been zoom parties and meetings galore. they still had fun distancing, of course! mark would dance outside his friends’ houses to cheer them up. luna gave sebastian his first tattoo: the friendly’s ice cream clown! cc dyed his hair about 3 different colors: pink, blue, and even seafoam! 

casablanca’s reopening was a saccharine moment for everyone. cyndi had spent most of her time designing dresses, and couldn’t wait to show them off! tommy cried literal tears upon seeing rikki and sebastian for the first time in months! gene and phoebe aggressively made out for thirty seconds straight until scotti pulled them away. he bet the skidz boys $50 if they fucked in the family restroom. 

duff thought this would be a perfect opportunity to pay everyone a visit! there was a note for tommy shoved in his pocket, and basically only came to see him in the first place. he knew he really shouldn’t spend more time, but how could he resist? just about everything runs a little differently. if the “safety first!” signs scattered around the mall weren’t enough, there are hand sanitizer dispensers at every single store. casablanca’s only open from wednesday to sunday. poisonous novelties replaced their pick-n-mix with a touch screen that lets you choose your selection. the food court, overjoysticked, wild side inkorporated, and kiss kosmetics remain closed until further notice. 

paul and bruce came in, although they’re out of a job for the next month or so. to make up for the lack of a food court, they were selling cotton candy and balloon animals. much to paul’s dismay, he was temporarily demoted to the cotton candy cart. luna was supposed to make the balloon animals, but bruce took over instead. she got her wisdom teeth removed the morning of, and was too loopy for the job. steven took her to his and duff’s house while rachel went to the reopening.

“unbelievable,” muttered paul as he poured more sugar into the machine, “i wouldn’t be caught dead making cotton candy.” bruce had it just as bad, the balloons were super cheap, so he worked extra hard to form them into animals.

“is that any good?” bruce asked; paul immediately gave him some from a previous batch to taste. “i think you burnt it…”

“you sure?” his boss replied.

“yeah, you definitely messed up this one.” bruce cautiously pricked the cotton candy with his fingertips.

“it’s orange and sour blue raspberry-”

“paul, those fruits don’t go together!” bruce tossed the botched treat in the garbage, “i swear, you have some messed up taste buds!” the cotton candy machine started making whirring sounds, as if it were about to break at any second.

“stupid piece of shit doesn’t fucking wor-” the disgruntled paul looked up to see duff standing before him. although they were the same height, bruce was intimidated by duff, as they used to have beef back in the day. “hey, people, what’s going on?”… he was by himself.

“do you know if poisonous novelties is open?” paul pointed to the direction of the confectioner’s.

“yeesh, the least he could’ve said was hello…” as expected, there was music blasting through rikki’s portable speaker. although they didn’t let anyone in at this time, duff was an exception. bobby was sitting on the counter, scrolling through old texts. rikki kept himself occupied by sweeping the floor as if it wasn’t spotless when they came in. cc was in the kitchen, being the incredible chocolatier he is. his phone in his apron pocket, speaker side up so he would come more clearly.

“hey, everyone!”

“duff!” bobby jumped off the counter.

“where’s bret?” asked duff.

“he’s late.” rikki shrugged.

“as usual-” bobby was cut off by cc’s usual screaming.

“bret, you better break speed limits, or i’ll break your fucking kneecaps!!” cc’s irritated tone bounced through the kitchen.

“language!” the only brunette in the store joked.

“i better get going, sorry to disturb you.” duff adjusted his red bandana mask.

“no problem!” chirped bobby.

“yeah, stop by anytime!” added rikki. in addition to the letter, duff also had a thunderbolt order he needed to attend to. luna can only eat soft foods, and of course, the first thing that came to mind was an ice cold frappe. tommy’s smiling face was behind the counter, with a clean burgundy apron decorated with brand new pins!

“duff, man, i missed you so much!” he started to hold his hand out for a fistbump, but remembered he couldn’t touch the customers…

“i know, i missed you too!”

“can i take your order?”

“two medium black tea sprites, and a large bigtop frappe.”

“felt super sweet today?”

“it’s for luna… she basically demands milkshakes ever since she came out of surgery.” the bigtop frappe was july’s special: vanilla blended with frosted animal crackers and strawberry frosting.

“$12.67, we only take credit for now.” duff left a 20% tip, because he felt bad for tommy having to deal with whatever hell irate customers will unleash. tommy put the drinks into a tray with a smile.

“thanks so much!” duff reached in his pants for the letter. “oh, and nikki told me to give this to you.” 

“sweet!” the barista practically ran into the back to gush over what his crush has to say. 

“alright, eager beaver.” muttered duff as he left the coffeehouse. tommy’s name was written on the envelope in bold cursive. instead of opening the letter normally, he ripped up the paper like a barbarian. the actual letter was printed with a pretty summer theme.

 **"** _dear tommy,_

_i wish you the best of luck with reopening thunderbolt! although i won’t be going to the mall anytime soon, i hope to see you again someday. the kindergarten’s hosting a virtual summer camp, because let’s be honest, they couldn’t go a month without me._

_also!! remember tyler? that one guy from my high school i won’t shut up about? he let me move into his house for good!! it’s SO REFRESHING not being pressured by your dad, you feel me? once i get my own place, i’ll be as free as a group of unsupervised teens at cheesecake factory!_

_enough about me, how’s your cat holding up? feeding him any yummy treats lately? how about your family back in athens? i haven’t heard much covid coverage in greece, like,,, at all. i hope they’re doing well!!_

_stay safe,_

_darling nikki_

_ps: if you see my dad refusing to wear a mask, DO NOT let him in and call security asap_ **"**

receiving handwritten letters made tommy feel like it was the old days. although tommy’s on the internet 24/7, physical messages mean so much more than a text. in fact, when the workday was over, he went straight home and taped the letter to his fridge! him and nikki really should meet up sometime… socially distant, of course!


End file.
